Reclaiming the female gaze

In Anita Selzer’s first volume of The Female Gaze in Art and Photography, she began a vivid conversation with contemporary artists across continents, each of them exploring how their “female gaze” shaped the way they looked at, and remade, the world. It was bold, intimate and immediate.

Now, in The Female Gaze Volume Two, Selzer widens the frame, as she features 20 women artists and photographers from Australia and around the world whose vision, Selzer insists, has too often been left in the shadows.

“I want my readers to be aware that the female gaze is not a new phenomenon, that it has been around for centuries,” she said.

“It is about women’s perspectives, their points of view, their subjectivity, life experiences and observations about the times and world they live in.”

Selzer felt that creating a book about significant female artists would give them visibility and a presence in art history.

“There have been significant women artists in art history who have in the past been ignored, silenced and unacknowledged for their talent,” she pointed out, unflinching in naming the barriers.

“One was that it has been men who have determined what ‘great art’ is – they have set the yardstick determining this value, largely shaping cultural meaning. They saw women as homemakers located in the private sphere of life, not as professional artists, as ideology about a woman’s place in society has been very pervasive,” she pointed out.

The exclusions were not just cultural, but structural. For example, as Selzer explained, social mores prevented women from learning how to paint or draw nudes as that was considered improper for women.

Yet the double standard prevailed.

“In the art world dominated by men, studying from the nude was regarded as the pinnacle of achievement in art. It was denied to women for a long time just because they were women,” Selzer said.

Still, there is light woven through the struggle, with volume two illustrating how there were some women artists who succeeded in their profession. These stories of triumph, perseverance and brilliance are what lend the book its pulse.

The volume sits beautifully beside its predecessor. As Selzer explained, the two volumes can be read separately or in tandem. The book has already received acclaim, winning the Big Book Award in New York, the Independent Press Award in 2025, and the 19th National Indie Excellence Award in Los Angeles.

Selzer admits the recognition has been overwhelming.

“I feel very privileged and humbled to have won these international awards, absolutely thrilled as I did not expect such a wonderful reception and acknowledgement by the publishing industry.”

Selzer told The AJN that volume three is already almost in production.

“It is on three talented deceased Australian artists: Jane Sutherland, Emma Minnie Boys and Josephine Muntz-Adam,” she teased.

“I am currently working on volume four with contemporary artists and am happy that a series has now evolved on women artists that I did not foresee when writing volume 1.”

The Female Gaze in Art and Photography: Volume 2 is published by Hardie Grant Media, $49.99.